In the last six or so months, I have mostly chosen to absorb the political atmosphere from a very casual stance; letting it wash over me like an acid rain.
What I have observed has titillated my senses, provoked my preconceived notions, and made me question my personal and social objectives.
As an American, I have only a handful of wishes.
Safety for me, my family and assets.
This encompasses a variety of issues. Obviously, national security is first and foremost. I do not wish to go back to the 80’s hyper-paranoia of nuclear nightmares. The optimism I felt when Communism collapsed that we were somehow safe from annihilation, has diminished with the passing years since September 11. It is clear that we live in a world that is built on a false-sense of security. The fragility of the very fabric that holds our social structure together has been exposed. I do not worry so much about the Kim Jong Il’s of the world, but rather the dark specters of chaos who have nothing to lose and nothing to gain but a desire for destruction, fueled by ignorance, brain-washed of compassion and committed whole-heartedly to a violent culture of death.
We can NOT defend ourselves with conventional strategies against today’s terrorism. The only agenda of these individuals, is the complete and utter destruction of our existence. There is nothing we can give them to sate their need for our death. This is a reality. President Bush and his administration receive an A+ in this area. Bush and Co. seem to grasp the notion that the only thing the terrorists respect is violence and death, therefore the cliché of not backing down, not showing weakness, being resolute is our ONLY defense. I applaud them and wish that they carry on with fervor and diligence until anyone who even entertains the notion that using terrorist techniques is eliminated.
We must be feared and respected – not loved and accepted. That will come when all nations have the gift of democracy.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Bennett Dawson
Nice piece Dawn, Enjoyable, an accurate snapshot of many of us, and did I mention scary? :-]
2 - Eric Olsen
very nice Dawn, thanks, I agree with much of it
3 - Dawn
Thanks Bennett and Eric - I think most Americans can find something to agree with in my assertions - which is really where we need to head towards. All this partisan-ship and bickering is boring and non-productive.
It will cause people to tune out of politics when we are in the greatest need of tuning in.
4 - Leoniceno
Nice article, quite enjoyable. And representative of the way that many feel. By the way, are you related to Eric? :P
5 - JR
So Bush refuses three offers to take out Zarqawi before the invasion of Iraq, fails to catch him for two years after the invasion, and still hasn't caught the guy actually behind the 11-Sep attacks, and you give him an A+?
Talk about grade inflation.
6 - Eric Olsen
frankly, politics is boring as hell right now. There just isn't anything going on I can ge too worked up about either way.
7 - Dawn
JR
Grades are based on peer comparison, I don't think I can imagine anyone taking the task as seriously as he and his group do. They aren't God with omnipotent powers to see all and be everywhere - I gave credit where credit was due.
8 - JR
I don't think I can imagine anyone taking the task as seriously as he and his group do.
Seems to me the Pentagon was taking the task more seriously when they went to Bush asking for his approval to take out Zarqawi.
The Clinton administration clearly took bin Laden more seriously than Bush did before the attacks; that's well documented. Why assume they wouldn't have taken terrorism more seriously after the attacks too?
9 - Dave Nalle
Perhaps because they were offered Bin Laden on a silver platter and declined to take him at that time?
Dave
10 - Eric Olsen
Dawn is my sister (slap) daughter (slap) sister (slap) daughter. Wife, actually
11 - JR
Perhaps because they were offered Bin Laden on a silver platter and declined to take him at that time?
Seems quite reasonable to assume that Bush would have done the same. Particularly in light of his turning down the Zarqawi strike after 9/11 and after declaring his so-called policy of pre-emption against terrorists (Zarqawi) and WMD's (which Zarqawi was suspected of having).
12 - Eric Berlin
I liked this piece very much, Dawn. I disagree on the foreign policy angle, which might not be a surprise to anyone. I'm all for being feared by terrorists and rogue states, but we also need friends wherever we can find them, which this administration seems to actively avoid. The most recent example, of course, is the Bolton nomination.
Your comparison of social security and credit card reform is nothing short of fantastic! I just finished a piece on bankruptcy reform (I'll be posting it to BC as soon as it publishes in print) in which I grew more angry and enraged as I went. Why don't credit card companies self-regulate better, or why doesn't the government force them to?
Credit cards enter the wallets of the carefree youngsters you mention, Dawn. And before they know it, it's a lifetime of circulating debt.
13 - Dawn
Credit card companies like fiscal irresponsibility, it is the fuel to their voracious appetite.
I firmly believe they are as wreckless and dangerous as the tobacco companies of the fifties, sixties and seventies. They know the devastating effects of their product, but market freely to those most vunerable.
And like all big business, they can hide behind the government's protection because those who make the legislative decisions regulating credit cards aren't at the greatest risk of being manipulated.
14 - Dave Nalle
True enough, JR. But don't go trying to make Clinton out as the great anti-terrorist warrior, because the issue was barely even on his agenda or anyone else's before 9/11.
Dave
15 - Nancy
Or because those who make the legislative decisions regulating credit cards are also in 'debt' to the credit card companies for election contributions.
I was pretty ticked by the recent bankruptcy "reform" myself, because it apportioned no blame whatsoever to the card companies' reckless and irresponsible behavior, only the consumers'. This kind of one-sided legislation is so patently the result of influence peddling by big-bucks lobbies and political corruption it makes my blood boil. Would that it did same to the politicians.
16 - Dave Nalle
That's a philosophical issue, Nancy. The philosophy which Bush and Co. subscribe to, and it's not entirely unreasonable, is that businesses are like forces of nature. They do what they can to make money, and it's up to those of us who are conscious entities partaking of their services to figure out what's a good deal and what isn't. It's all about our free will.
Dave
17 - NC
That's a very good analogy. I quite agree.
18 - Dave Nalle
Ah yes, please Mr. Big Government Man, protect us from our own gullibility, greed and irresponsibility. Here, why don't you take some of my civil rights as payment for the warm and cuddly sense of security you give me.
Dave
19 - Eric Berlin
Yes Dave, Big Businesses are Forces of Nature... that will knock and are knocking the hell out of regular folk (some bright, some not so much).
If government does nothing... or not much, as is now the case, say bye bye to the environment and watch as the Little Guy is prayed upon mercilessly as we consolidate and descend into a one company oligarchic corporate state. It's all market forces, right?
20 - Eric Berlin
Dawn -- you make an excellent point regarding tobacco and credit card companies.
It's one thing to lay off the Big Macs and the fast food every once in a while... but once you're hooked on cigs or a cycle of debt, some can quit, and many never, ever can... 'till death do you part.
21 - Dave Nalle
I've got no problem with government environmental regulation, Eric. But the issue here was regulating the credit card companies - at least in the recent comments. That's a whole different deal. Beyond requiring them to disclose their terms and not actively deceive people, how much farther should government go to hold our hands in making simple financial decsions?
Dave
22 - Nancy
Well, I have to agree with Dave: we are responsible for our own actions. But it still makes me want to tar & feather everyone in Congress. Actually, I want to do that anyway on general principle; I don't need a reason.... ;)
23 - Dave Nalle
If you bring the tar (it's messy), I've got plenty of feathers.
Dave
24 - NC
More on credit-card companies here from the decidedly libertarian Glenn Reynolds.
25 - Eric Berlin
Credit card companies should either self-regulate better than they are now -- such as getting out of the business of hooking broke college / high school students on credit -- or be forced to.
The recent bankruptcy legislation was passed, in part, due to people that are unable to pay their credit card bills. There's a problem here, and the solution under the Bush Administration (as always) is to screw the little guy and favor Big Business.